The present invention generally relates to the field of displaying video data and particularly to the magnification of a display of video data.
Users have access to information from a wide range of sources on a diverse group of systems. For example, a user utilizing a digital information appliance, such as an Internet appliance, information handling systems, convergence systems, televisions, and the like may access information from the Internet, television networks, and contained in tangible media, such as compact disc read only memory (CD-ROM) and digital versatile disc (DVD). However, these systems typically do not support the same resolution for which the data was originally formatted, due to the wide range of sources and systems. For example, the monitor of a personal computer system may support resolutions of 640xc3x97480, 1024xc3x97768 and higher, but a typical National Television Standards Committee (NTSC) standard television may support only lower resolutions, such as 320xc3x97200. Presently, to display video data formatted for a higher resolution on a device supporting lower resolutions, the data must be reformatted to reduce its resolution.
One such method of reformatting data includes removing pixels from the original format so that the remaining number of pixels corresponds to the number of pixels capable of being displayed on the low-resolution display device. Another method involves reducing and interpolating the pixels with the use of different shades of color so as to attain an image that corresponds somewhat to the original image. However, by reducing the number of pixels displayed, detailed portions of the image are often rendered illegible. For example, a user viewing a Web page from the World Wide Web on a National Television Standards Committee (NTSC) standard television may not be able to comprehend portions of the reduced image. For instance, portions of the reduced image may include text originally formatted for display in a smaller font and meant to be read on a high-resolution display device, such as a monitor of an information handling system or high-definition television.
To enable a user to view the smaller text involved enlarging the reduced image. However, the reduced video data often produces translation errors once enlarged. For example, one method of enlarging an image adds pixels to the image so that the resulting number of pixels corresponds to the number of pixels capable of being displayed on the display device. Thus, if an original image contained one-half the number of pixels capable of being displayed on a device, the rows and columns of the original image were doubled, and a portion of the image was displayed. Consequently, the resolution of the image was not changed even though the size of the image was increased. Another method involved adding and interpolating the added rows so as to correspond to the rows in the reduced image. However, this method also resulted in an imprecise translation of the data since data was lost as the original image was reduced.
Therefore, there is a need for a system and method for magnifying a display of data thereby enabling a user to view high-resolution data on a low-resolution display device.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a system and method for magnifying a display of video data. By utilizing the present invention, a user may view an overall display of video data formatted for display in a high resolution on a low resolution display device, yet still view portions of the video data in detail on the low resolution device. In accordance with a first aspect of the invention, a system for magnifying a display of data includes a receiver for receiving a first set of video data including video data formatted for display in a first resolution. A translator is also included for translating the first set of video data formatted for display in the first resolution to a second set of video data formatted for display in a second resolution, the second resolution is a lower resolution than the first resolution. A magnifier is also included for magnifying a display of video data by formatting the first set of video into a third set of video data. The third set of video data is capable of display on a display device suitable for displaying video data in the second resolution and incapable of displaying video data in the first resolution, wherein the third set of video data being in an enlarged format with respect to the second set of video data.
In accordance with a second aspect of the invention, a method for magnifying a display of data, a first set of video data formatted for display in a first resolution is translated to a second set of video data formatted for display in a second resolution. The second resolution is a lower resolution than the first resolution. The second set of video data is capable of being displayed on a display device capable of displaying data in the second resolution and incapable of displaying data in the first resolution. The display of video data is magnified by formatting the first set of video into a third set of video data so that the third set of video data is capable of display on the display device. The third set of video data is in an enlarged format with respect to the second set of video data.
It is to be understood that both the forgoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention as claimed. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate an embodiment of the invention and together with the general description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.